Labor's catastrophic stuff-up over tax law proves they are the amateur hour party. It's just the tip of the iceberg, writes PETER VAN ONSELEN

The Albanese government seems to have finally recognised the errors in its poorly worded law requiring tax practitioners to disclose any mental health problems to their clients. Labor's assistant treasurer Stephen Jones had issued a ministerial directive requiring tax practitioners to disclose 'any' matter a client might consider relevant to whether or not they would engage their services. Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones has comprehensively stuffed up new laws designed to make the government appear tough in the wake of the PwC scandal But for weeks Jones revealed his inner stubborn self, refusing to concede his badly worded law would force mental health disclosures. Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones had Silk's advice in his possession that mental health might need to be disclosed under his new laws but he still claimed concerns were 'unfounded' Did any of this lead the minister to reflect on his policy stupidity in the first place? To better understand how political spin doctors seek to avoid answering straight-up questions, just look at the below text message exchange I had with the most senior person in the Prime Minister's media team, when I asked a very simple series of questions about the Silk's advice Jones had received but ignored: Me: 'The assistant treasurer Stephen Jones has said publicly that mental health disclosure concerns regarding his tax practitioners directive as tabled in the senate are "unfounded"; however, he made that claim publicly even AFTER being provided with silk’s advice to the contrary.